This past Sunday we spent the majority of the day tailgating at Qualcomm Stadium from 8 am until kick-off at 1:15 pm. During that stretch I was able to sneak away from my tailgating area (I put together a short video tour of my tailgating set-up I bring to the games) and headed on over to visit with my fellow brethren in tailgating. Namely the guys from Freedom Grill had “the Carnivore” extreme tailgating truck on display along with the folks from Skinit.com showcasing their new Tailgate Packs. Unbeknownst to me was the fact that Joe Cahn, the Commissioner of Tailgating, was over there visiting with the guys as well.
Being a purveyor of the tailgate party lifestyle and having my finger on the pulse of all things tailgating, I knew of Joe and had spoken with him on the phone a few times. This however was my first time meeting him in person. If you are unfamiliar with The Commissioner of Tailgating, all you need to know is the man has been criss-crossing the country since the mid-90’s tailgating pro and college football, Nascar, Major League Baseball and any other sport or concert you can think of. He is the owner of Tailgating.com and he has visited all 31 NFL stadiums, over 123 college stadiums, nine NASCAR tracks, tailgated with hundreds of thousands of people and served more than 326 pots of jambalaya. To say the man has more tailgating experience in his left pinkie than we will ever have is an understatement.
I had a chance to chat with Joe about some general issues facing tailgaters and just in general shot the breeze with him. He was able to show me a new iPhone app that is going to turn the tailgating world on its ear and I will share that with you later on this week. As with most tailgating, time was flying by too quickly and I had to cut the visit short. I still needed to head back to my tailgating space and put the tri-tip on my customized Margaritaville tailgating grill. Joe said he wanted to come by and check out my set-up. I told him where we were parked and we would be relatively easy to find. As I left to head back I figured the odds of Joe coming over to my tailgate was rather small. After all, the man is The Commissioner of Tailgating and would probably be pulled in a number of different directions.
Much to my surprise, about 30 minutes later, I see Joe Cahn making his way towards my tailgate spot. I waved him over and he found me with little effort. We chatted some more, I introduced him to the other guests tailgating with me and before long he was back on the move to visit some more tailgaters. Luckily I brought my camera this time and Joe was gracious enough to pose for a picture with me.
So be on the look out for Joe Cahn next time you are out tailgating. Flag him down, offer him something to eat and drink and shoot the breeze. And make sure to always bring your camera tailgating. You never know who you’ll meet.